Senior living has been making steady progress after surviving the body blow that the pan-demic delivered in its early days. Occupancy rates, as we note in our feature on page 28, have increased throughout 2022, with rents notching their most rapid increase in more than a decade. And like the larger category of healthcare real estate, investors are eager to buy these well-positioned, recession-resistant assets. And, again, like the larger category of healthcare real estate, this space also comes with challenges that can only be met by the most skilled men and women. On the following pages you will read about some of these professionals, as well as teams and companies that fit this requirement.

BRAD COMPETTY Brad Competty was instrumental during the merger of Lancaster Pollard, RED Capital Group and Hunt Real Estate Capital and the subse-quent formation of Lument, where he is now managing director. Based in Columbus, OH, Competty helps lead the firm's origination efforts for senior housing and healthcare clients throughout the Midwest. Since joining the firm, Competty has worked on almost $1 billion in trans-actions across the entire capital platform. Prior to his current role, he was focused on the analysis of senior housing, long-term care and acute-care organizations. He provided support on a wide range of bond transactions and mortgage loans for rehabilitation, new construction and refinance projects. His deep understanding of financing structures includes conventional bond financing, HUD-FHA, Fannie Mae and USDA programs, and he recently added bridge and bridge-to-HUD financing to his tool chest. Last year, Competty closed 16 transactions with a total loan amount of more than $188 million and he continued strong production to start this year with an $87 million facility via the HUD/FHA Section 223(f) program to refinance nine skilled nursing facilities with a total of 691 beds located in Ohio, Michigan and Wiscon-sin in collaboration with Atrium Centers. He is involved in several civic and nonprofit organizations related to seniors and community health that strive to make a difference in the community.

R.J. DEBEE, III R.J. DeBee has been active in the real estate and healthcare industries for more than a decade, while primarily focusing on providing ap-praisal services for the senior housing market. He recently joined BBG as managing director, where he is responsible for building out and growing the firm's newly-launched senior housing practice group nationwide. The team provides valuation and consulting services to clients across the county including national lenders, REITs, operators and developers. Prior to joining BBG, DeBee was a top producer at CBRE where he managed the Eastern US division, including all states along the eastern seaboard. During the height of the pandemic, his team tracked market data and market participant discussions which provided a valuable resource for others in the industry. DeBee is an advisory committee member of the American Seniors Housing Association, the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care and ULI, as well as a candidate for designation for the Appraisal Institute. Outside his work responsibilities, DeBee works closely with the community as a volunteer with Canine Companions for Independence, which provides service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities and facility dogs to professionals working in healthcare, criminal justice and educational settings.